The Business Times, Friday, April 17, 2009
Hyundai clinches $890m
Jurong Rock Cavern contract
It will design and
build the first phase,
with work starting
at year-end
By RONNIE LIM
CONSTRUCTION proper of
Singapore’s underground
oil storage project is finally
set to start with South Ko-
rea’s Hyundai Engineering
& Construction clinching
the main $890 million “de-
sign and build” contract
this week from JTC Corpo-
ration.
Actual building under
this contract, for the first
phase of Jurong Rock Cav-
ern (JRC), begins at year-
end, with the first two cav-
erns providing 480,000 cu-
COOL RUNNING
CAUGHT up in the excitement of the sixth annual JPMorgan Corporate Challenge yesterday were Temasek Holdings CEO Ho Ching (centre) and her successor,
Charles Goodyear. The challenge this year drew some 10,000 runners from more than 330 companies and organisations. There were several changes to the 5.6km
race, one of which was the last leg taking place along the Singapore F1 track, with runners finishing at the Pit Building itself. The six largest contingents this year
were from JPMorgan, StarHub, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Citigroup, M1 and SAP. Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports,
flagged the runners off together with Philip Lee, JPMorgan Singapore country manager.
Fares for Circle
Line to be
same as NEL’s
By SAMUEL EE
FARES for the new Circle
Line (CCL) will be the same
as those on the North-East
Line (NEL), the Public
Transport Council an-
nounced yesterday.
Adult fares will range
from 73 cents to $2.07 with
the use of an ez-link card,
and $1.10 to $2.20 with a
standard ticket.
These are slightly higher
than fares on the main
North-South and East-West
lines (NSEW), which are be-
tween 68 cents and $1.82
for ez-link cardholders.
PTC said that the higher
fare structure is due to the
nature of the CCL – being a
fully underground system,
it will incur higher operat-
ing and maintenance costs.
The line’s underground
train stations will have high-
er energy costs for air-con-
ditioning and lighting, for
example. There is also an
underground train depot
with extensive fire protec-
tion and ventilation fea-
tures.
“As a fully underground
line, the CCL requires a fare
structure identical to NEL
in order to be financially vi-
able,” said PTC chairman
Gerard Ee.
“Nonetheless, the coun-
cil is mindful of the need to
keep fares affordable. In
this case, commuters will in
bic metres of oil storage
when ready in the first half
of 2013.
The entire phase one,
comprising five caverns,
will offer a total of 1.47 mil-
lion cu m when completed
by 2014.
This will make the JRC
slightly larger than the
$470 million, 1.24 million
cu m tankfarm of Horizon
Terminals, but about two-
thirds that of Hin Leong
Trading’s $750 million, 2.3
million cu m Universal Ter-
minal – Asia’s largest com-
mercial storage.
The project had earlier
run into some delays, al-
though Senior Minister of
State for Trade & Industry
S Iswaran last month gave
the assurance that Singa-
fact benefit from lower
fares, faster journeys, and
more travel options.”
But PTC added that train
commuters will see fare sav-
ings or no change in fares
because the CCL is an orbit-
al line that allows commut-
ers to reduce journey dis-
tances and travel times,
and therefore fares.
When the Circle Line
Stage 3 (CCL3) – from the
Bartley to Marymount sta-
tions – opens on May 28,
travel time for commuters
will be cut by up to 27 min-
utes. More than 31,000
adult train trips per week
will see fare reductions of
five cents to 77 cents per
train trip – up to 48 per
cent savings in fares.
When the line is fully
opened, about 10-15 per
cent of trips that are cur-
rently made on some of the
most heavily loaded sec-
tions of the existing MRT
lines are expected to mi-
grate, thus spreading the
overall load.
SMRT, which already op-
erates the NSEW lines, will
run the CCL. NEL is operat-
ed by SBS Transit.
PTC also said that no
bus routes will be changed
with the opening of the
CCL3. This is because the
CCL3 is a geographically
short stretch with minimal
duplication of bus and rail
routes.
pore was committed to the
JRC which would help alle-
viate the land shortage on
Jurong Island.
Investors have not been
able to get land there to
build more above-ground
oil terminals needed by oil
refiners and traders to
store their oil and petro-
chemical products.
So despite being behind
schedule and slightly above
cost, the JRC will provide
necessary infrastructure
for Singapore’s oil hub, es-
pecially once the rebound
comes.
The cost for phase one
of JRC – being built under
Banyan Basin – has run up
by about one-third to $940
million from an earlier esti-
mate of $700 million.
Two insurance firms launch
rent protection scheme
By EMILYN YAP
AS disputes between land-
lords and tenants hot up,
two insurance companies
have launched a rent pro-
tection insurance scheme
to shield residential land-
lords from rental income
losses.
Said to be the first in Sin-
gapore and Asia, the prod-
uct from Jardine Lloyd
Thompson (JLT) and QBE
Insurance makes up for up
to 12 months of lost rent
(capped at $100,000) in sev-
eral events, such as the ten-
ants defaulting on pay-
ments or real estate agents
absconding with rents col-
lected.
The insurance also cov-
Less funds but more fun for this year’s May Day
EXPENDITURE for this
year’s May Day celebra-
tions will be almost half of
the $1.5-1.8 million in pre-
vious years but the spirit of
honouring workers’ contri-
butions will not be dimin-
ished.
There will even be two
new events – the May Day
Model Partnership Awards
and Solidarity Walk and
Concert – on top of the usu-
al May Day dinner, rally
and family outing. The trick
is keeping costs low.
Most of the events will
be held at venues within
the NTUC family, such as
This includes the $50
million for two access
shafts and start-up galler-
ies – which are almost com-
pleted – to facilitate con-
struction.
The chosen operator of
the JRC – earlier expected
to be announced at the
same time as the main con-
struction award – will, how-
ever, only be made known
by mid-year, JTC officials
indicated yesterday.
Existing terminal opera-
tors here such as Royal
Vopak of Holland and Emir-
ates National Oil Company
are known to be vying for
this.
The main construction
award came 11/2 years af-
ter the tender was first
called by JTC in late-2007.
ers other administrative
costs such as legal fees in-
curred in evicting tenants.
At 15 per cent of one
month’s rent, premium for
the rent protection insur-
ance is affordable, said JLT
business development di-
rector Gerard Lee.
“Landlords and real es-
tate agents . . . have com-
mented that it is being intro-
duced at the right time in
Singapore.”
The insurers noted a ris-
ing number of landlord-ten-
ant dispute claims.
According to data they
sourced from the Small
Claims Tribunals of the Sub-
ordinate Courts of Singa-
pore, there were 1,137
Downtown East and Orchid
Country Club.
The partnership
awards, slated for May 16
at Downtown East, was in-
troduced in line with the
challenges faced by employ-
ers and employees alike.
It aims to recognise indi-
viduals, unions and compa-
nies that have rallied togeth-
er as partners and contrib-
uted to helping workers to
“upturn the downturn”.
Unlike past awards, this
year’s nominations went be-
yond the individual efforts
of a worker or company
with emphasis on the com-
mitment to partnership
Asked why it took that
long, given that there were
only two bidders (the other
being South Korea’s SK En-
gineering), the spokesman
explained that “it’s a huge
tender which involved a lot
of detailed work and is very
complex”.
The work is being done
130m below the seabed,
and Hyundai – which has
experience with such
projects in Taiwan and Ko-
rea – has to carry out “drill
and blast” excavation using
explosives, he added.
The entire phase one
will involve eight kilome-
tres of tunnels, with five
caverns made up of two
storage galleries, with each
gallery being 340m long,
20m wide and 27m high.
such cases in 2008 – 70 per
cent more than a year earli-
er.
And feedback from the
real estate industry indi-
cates that most disputes do
not even reach the tribu-
nals, the insurers highlight-
ed.
As Dennis Wee Group di-
rector Chris Koh said, it is
hard to take some tenants
to task if they have simply
disappeared.
With market conditions
deteriorating, the insurers
also felt that rent protection
insurance would come in
handy.
Institute of Estate
Agents president Jeff Foo
observed that rent defaults
among different stakehold-
ers working together, said
NTUC.
The event will be graced
by three guests-of-honour,
in recognition of the differ-
ent stakeholders involved.
The Solidarity Walk and
Concert will be held on
May 23 and see up to 7,000
union leaders, members
and families taking a
2.33km walk in support of
all workers in Singapore.
The event will end with
a concert held at a driving
range with performances
by the labour movement’s
in-house talent.
Also, the concert will
SINGAPORE NEWS 11
(About nine-storeys high,
each gallery is large
enough to contain water
from over 64 Olympic-sized
pools).
“The water pressure will
keep the oil contained with-
in the generally unlined
rock caves,” the spokesman
said.
The higher project cost
arose due to improvements
made to the cavern designs
to enhance operational flex-
ibility, he explained.
A planned phase two of
the JRC could add a further
1.3 million cu m of storage,
doubling its capacity.
Asked if this could cost
more than phase one, the
spokesman said that “the
complexity is similar, so it
depends on the timing (of
when the project is done)”.
YEN MENG JIIN
have increased significant-
ly from nine months ago,
and such cases would hurt
landlords that rely on rent-
al income for mortgage pay-
ments.
The new product will be
distributed through real es-
tate agents, who will get a
referral fee. Coverage ap-
plies for entire tenancy peri-
ods of up to 24 months, and
landlords have to bear de-
ductibles in some cases.
Rent protection insur-
ance has spawned premi-
ums of over A$30 million
(S$32.5 million) in Austral-
ia, JLT said.
“We believe that this
product will find compara-
ble success in Singapore
and in Asia.”
mark the culmination of the
labour movement’s fund-
raising efforts for the
U Care fund with the an-
nouncement of the total
amount raised.
At a media briefing yes-
terday, NTUC president
John De Payva expressed
confidence that the target
of $20 million would be
met.
Set up to help lower-in-
come workers and the re-
trenched overcome the eco-
nomic crisis, the fund
might be disbursed in the
form of transport, utility
and education-related
vouchers.
Water Week
set to make
a splash
By MICHELLE YEO to the ministers’ forum, in-
CLOSE to 90 per cent of the cluding Canada, Australia,
12,000 sq m of the Water China and Thailand.
Expo exhibition space has PUB CEO and executive
been sold to date, to more director of the environment
than 140 companies from and water industry develop-
about 20 countries. ment council Khoo Teng
So, it’s little wonder that Chye said: “Infrastructure
the organisers of Singapore and technology develop-
International Water Week ment will be vital, not only
2009 (SIWW) expect to to maximise engineering ef-
make a splash despite the ficiency and investment re-
economic downturn. turns, but also to create
Coming up in June, the jobs.”
SIWW, which
was inaugurat-
ed in 2008,
has been ex- ‘Infrastructure and
panded with a
key focus on in-
technology
frastructure
and technolo-
development will be
gies.
In line with
vital . . .’
this theme, the – PUB CEO Khoo Teng Chye
7th Ministers’
Forum on Infrastructure De- SIWW is the global plat-
velopment in the Asia-Pacif- form for water solutions. It
ic Region, the International will bring together industry
Water Association’s 6th leaders and specialists to
Leading-Edge Technology address challenges and dis-
(LET) Conference, and the cover opportunities in the
official opening of the water world.
Changi Water Reclamation As part of the strong
Plant (CWRP) will be held take-up of exhibition space,
during Water Week. the Singapore pavilion has
The key highlight is the been expanded four-fold to
opening of the CWRP, Singa- 800 sq m this year.
pore’s largest and most ad- It will showcase the ca-
vanced water reclamation pabilities of over 50 local
plant that ensures the sus- and Singapore-based water
tainability of NEWater with companies, half of which
its state-of-the-art water are first-time participants.
treatment facility. In addition, two new re-
Infrastructure and wa- gions, North America and
ter ministers from 19 mem- North Africa, will be added
ber countries will be invited to the business forums.
NRF seeks ideas
for urban living
in the future
Applicants are to Singapore and other dense-
ly populated cities.
submit white paper “Such projects are ex-
by May 22 pected to be multi-discipli-
nary in nature, and have a
THE National Research strong science base,” it
Foundation (NRF) is launch- said.
ing a competitive research “The intent is for Singa-
grant call for proposals that pore to become a world-
will address the challenges class originator of innova-
of high-density urban liv- tive technologies, products
ing. and devices.”
With funding of up to A list of 14 broad re-
$10 million over three to
search areas related to the
five years, the programme scenario were listed. They
aims to draw projects that include technologies for an
will have high potential im- efficient transport system,
pact, if successfully devel-
oped. Proposals will have
to be based on a specific fu-
sustainable energy, better
food production yields, low
land-intensive infrastruc-
ture scenario. ture for utilities delivery,
For this particular grant and solutions to mitigate
call, the NRF has painted a the warming trend.
setting of a mega city, with Applicants are to submit
a population exceeding 10 a white paper of up to five
million people. pages to the NRF by
The high intensity urban May 22.
living will impose strains This will be assessed by
on infrastructure and sys- both a local panel and an in-
tems that sustain the func-
ternational one chaired by
tioning and growth of socie-
Rita Colwell, former direc-
ties.
tor of the US National Sci-
The scarcity of vital re- ence Foundation.
sources and mounting pres- Shortlisted applicants
sures on productivity will will be required to develop
present opportunities for full proposals which will
new technologies that then be put through an in-
could dramatically improve ternational peer review
the way mega cities operate process.
and thrive. For more information,
The NRF wants to draw go to https://rita.nrf.gov.
projects that are relevant to sg/.
SINGAPORE ROUNDUP
AIA Singapore appoints new CEO
AMERICAN International Assurance Company (AIA) has
appointed Kenneth Juneau CEO of AIA Singapore.
Mr Juneau, who has served as acting general manager
of AIA Singapore since September last year, will
continue his existing oversight responsibilities for AIA
Hong Kong, regional agency & distribution as well as
customer management group.
Foo Hee Lim estate donates $3.5m to NUS, NTU
THE estate of the late Foo Hee Lim has donated a total
of $3.5 million to the National University of Singapore
(NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
The funds will be used to provide financial assistance to
needy students across all disciplines in NTU as well as
those studying accountancy at NUS Business School. The
donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the
government, thus taking the total funding to $7 million.